What Would Commonwealth’s Tax Break Look Like If We Had 20-40 Year Tax Breaks
Thursday, July 4, 2013 @ 3:44 AM
In doing the research for the Commonwealth Health covenants I came across an interview that I had done with the Mayoralty candidate Shari Green , in which I raised the question of how she felt about tax breaks for people involved in downtown development.
During the period 2009-2011 Commonwealth received $136,679.00 in tax breaks. That number would have continued to grow if Mayor Green had her way in May 2010 when she rejected a consultant’s report which said extending the tax breaks for downtown to 20-30 or 40 year exemptions will not work. Green, along with councillor Cameron Stolz had argued that while the idea was expensive the City could not afford not to have a such a tool available.
That discussion came after a meeting in Victoria in August 2009 which Green attended at the invitation of Dan McLaren in which the Minister of Community and Regional Development , Bill Bennet was pitched .
Now had the city settled for the minimum that Mayor Green and Stolz were looking for, 20 years, we would be looking at a much bigger write off of taxes on the Commonwealth Health building than we are at present.
If you were to bolt on another 10 to 30 years of tax exemptions onto what is already enjoyed in the tax bill, the citizens of the city would be paying long into the future. The question remaining however is how has the current system of tax breaks in the downtown benefited the citizens as a whole? That is the question that seeks an answer.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
a tax break for one means everyone else has to pay more.
Just who is part of Commonwealth? If I remember correctly, there are some really close ties with city council who are part of it.
That to me sounds like a conflict of interest.
Annual property taxes in the downtown are roughly 5% of the assessed value…
A 20 year tax break would pretty much mean that the tax savings covered the development cost.
Yes, it would have redeveloped downtown Prince George, but almost entirely on the taxpayer’s dime. However, unlike the RCMP Building and other City Buildings, the benefits and ownership go to the developer. Nice gift!
The unfortunate part is that this program just leads to moving businesses from older buildings to newer developments, leaving the older buildings vacant and unable to pay for maintenance. It’s just an expensive way of shifting the problem.
The current 10 year tax break scheme is way too much as well. Projects need to make economic sense. They need to be able to stand on their own two feet.
Any councilor that felt the City should pay for 100% of the development and give it to Commonwealth is either dim or in someone’s back pocket…
Great post Icicle. Nothing more needs to be said. My favourite is the last line.
Comments for this article are closed.